SimHacker Knowledge Frames — Layers
Several ideas get called “schema” or “frame” in the wild. This skill keeps them separate so MOOLLM skills can point at the right layer.
Part of MOOLLM
See skills/README.md and the repo README.
1. Minsky frames (situation shape)
What: A frame is a structured expectation about a kind of situation: named slots, default fillers, hooks for exceptions. Restaurant, birthday party, debugging session.
Job: Answer “what kind of situation is this?” and “what pieces usually belong?”
Not: A causal learning unit (that’s Drescher). Not a protocol activation symbol (that’s K-lines).
In MOOLLM: Use frame when you mean slot structure or default script for a situation. YAML Jazz directory listings and CARD layouts often act as lightweight frames (“what’s here?”).
2. Drescher schemas (causal units)
What: Context → Action → Result — a learned causal unit. See schema-mechanism.
Job: Answer “what tends to happen when I do X in context Y?”
Not: Interchange validation (JSON Schema, XSD, RELAX NG, …). Not Minsky’s frame slots.
3. Interchange schema registry (wire shapes)
What: A named mechanism for valid serialized data: JSON Schema, Zod, RELAX NG, W3C XML Schema (XSD), and others registered under schema. Nomenclature, docs, libraries, and gateways between mechanisms live there.
Job: Answer “which validation/interchange language applies?” and “how do we translate or bridge to another stack?”
Not: Drescher learning. Not frame slots alone.
4. K-lines / protocol symbols (activation bundles)
What: A symbol that, when used in a shared culture (PROTOCOLS.yml, INDEX.yml, prior turns), re-loads a competent stance: which sub-skills, tone, and checks to run.
Job: Answer “which bundle of competence do we turn on now?”
Not: Static slot templates alone (frames). Not the Drescher learning loop.
Henry Minsky phrasing: Often a whole scene or stance, not only a pointer—closer to re-entering a closure than to naming a fact.
Quick comparison
| Layer | Question it answers | Primary skill |
|---|---|---|
| Frame | What shape is this situation? | This skill + yaml-jazz |
| Drescher schema | What causal unit fired? | schema-mechanism |
| Interchange schema | What wire format is valid? Which mechanism? | schema (registry) |
| K-line | What bundle to activate? | k-lines |
Related
k-lines— protocol symbols and activationschema-mechanism— Drescher, predictive schemasschema— schemapedia: registry of all schema senses (interchange, Drescher, frames, K-lines, SoM, SQL/SQLite); this skill’s theory for frames is still the home for what a frame isempathic-templates— slots for stance and empathy
Credits
Marvin Minsky (Society of Mind), Gary Drescher (Good and Real), MOOLLM protocol layer.
Standard metadata
License: MIT
Tags: minsky, drescher, frames, schemas, k-lines, philosophy
Related skills: k-lines, schema-mechanism, schema, yaml-jazz, empathic-templates